Australian Open: Merciless Murray mauls Haase to advance

Andy Murray launched his bid for a second successive grand slam trophy with a crushing 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 over Dutchman Robin Haase to charge into the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Briton, who captured a long-awaited major title at the US Open last year, charged out of the blocks against the 53rd-ranked Haase, capturing an early break in each set and wrapping up the match in a quick-fire 97 minutes.

Haase had previously proved a handful for Murray, taking him to five sets in the 2011 US Open and beating the Scot in their only other match at Rotterdam in 2008.

But the 25-year-old Dutchman never threatened in the sunshine at Rod Laver Arena, blowing five out of seven break points and blasting a forehand long to allow Murray to seal the match.

Murray, twice a finalist at Melbourne Park, will next play Australian wildcard John-Patrick Smith or Portugal's Joao Sousa.